Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Site

Liv's mum has complex regional pain syndrome, and for a variety of reasons is unable to take medication for it, so has become a bit of an expert in alternative therapies for CRPS (also known as RSD - reflex sympathetic dystrophy)

anyway, we've linked her new blog about effective treatments to this one - please check it out, you might learn something!

http://www.crps-rsd-a-better-life.blogspot.com or check the links list in the sidebar.

Enjoy

Mum- we love the site - keep it up.

Discontent

19 August 2006 Probably around midday.

Well, the contentment wore off. Monday we were both feeling great. we did yoga, and both worked busy days (which is good, because they go fast and we don't have to worry about billable time).

however, from tuesday to friday, we were both as flat as pancakes. i'm not really sure why, but i know they were tough days to get through. we've both been keeping up the exercise and eating better though, so at least our bodies will be healthy, if not our minds.

after this contract finishes, i think liz really wants a break from hospitality, and i really need a break from doing desk jobs.

we did have some great news yesterday - we're both confirmed for Woodford. I'm stage manager of the Chai Tent, and Liz doesn't know what she'll be doing yet, but she's with the stage crews as well.

oh, and in other exciting news, i've joined the library. and liz gets off at 4pm today so we're going to the pub.

she just handed me a coffee (i'm at riva) and she wrote "olivia" on it in chocolate syrup. on all riva caps they write Riva in choc sauce on top, so liz has been experimenting.

tomorrow we all have the day off, so liz, grandpa and i are going on a mystery tour. well, liz and i know where we're going, but grandpa doesn't, so it's a mystery for him. at the moment we're living for the weekends so we can get out to the country and the beach and the flinders ranges. oh, and get some sun. mmmm... sunshine....

Melrose

13 August 2006 I think it's still morning.

Liz and I seem to keep finding our way back to this pub in melrose where they have comfy couches and great coffee and music and friendly people. it seems amazing that we're willing to drive 45 min for a good coffee in a groocy atmosphere, but it appears that we're willing to do whatever it takes.

Actually, right now I'm just enjoying this incredible sensation of calm. Oooh! that's FANTASTIC COFFEE!!

well, apparently other than being excited about good coffee.... i'm calm.

i can see now that patience has paid off - well, not about living in an industrial town (we're still counting down the days, but it's getting easier - we've both found more things to keep us amused, and we're even doing yoga now) but it seems my long wait may be nearing the end - or at least a brief hiatus before another long wait.

Yup, that's all very cryptic, but that's all anyone's getting right now.

contentment feels REALLY good.

we were playing farmers. look how pale we are! that's disgusting. however, i had all my moles checked ( i freaked out because they all looked like they were getting darker - it was just my skin getting paler. bloody melbourne!) and they're all good. so yay! 

my boat. mine, i say. 

another before shot (unfortunately we don't have an after shot though to show you just how impressive the bruises on her knees from the handles were. it's no wonder kids are always hurting themselves! 

the after shot - liz pointing out the bump that she hurt her bum on! who puts bumps in slippery slides? 

more playground shots - i made lizzy do all the work of pushing us... hee hee. 

at fisherman's bay. we found this amazing playground and grandpa took these pics. dad has since informed me he think he has slides of me playing in this same playground when i was a little girl. funny the way the world goes around. what you can't tell in this pic, is that we were looking out over the ocean as we swung. 

ok, for the third time, i'm trying to post this image. an interesting phenomenon liz and i have noticed in this part of the world is fences that go nowhere. they don't join anything, or seem to have any purpose at all. interestingly, as with this example, they often have gates, some of which are even locked, but as yet, we've been unable to determine the purpose of this level of security. i'm quite serious, we've seen lots of these pointless fences all over the place, and we just don't get it at all. does anyone have an explanation? 

booleroo view b and b

12 August 2006 sometime in the afternoon

watching the shadows grow over the grass, drinking a glass of clare valley riesling, and listening to nina simone. i'm feeling calmer and more positive today than i have in a long time. i think this has been sparked by my recent contact with two very special people i haven't spoken to in a long time.

Angelina is my fairy princess soul sister - a psychologist i worked with at new farm clinic. babe, that last email you sent me had me in tears. i'm so proud of you. i printed it out so on gloomy days i can read it and remember why we both do what we do.

the other person is aflah, who has just arrived back in australia from ghana to tour with wala for a few months. he called not long after his arrival to surprise me. aflah - i've thought of you often since you left, and i'm thrilled you're here, even though it's so briefly. i'm determined that liz and i are going to get to see you as soon and as frequently as possible.

it's amazing how such simple things as conversations with friends can make you feel so loved and blessed.

ok, enough gushing, i sicken even myself.

i needed some space to write and draw and think, so i've taken myself to booleroo view b and b. this place is DEFINITELY up there with my favourite place to stay.

(later, watching mary poppins)

well, as i began to say, this place is lovely. jill (the owner) just came to settle the account, and when i offered her a glass of wine, she sat and chatted to me for ages - a very interesting person.

this place has:

3 bedrooms, tv, dvd, stereo, fireplace, full kitchen, and LOADS of extras, like every bathroom supply you could ask for (shavers, creams, smelly soaps...) and SOOOOOO much food!

eggs, mushies, tomatoes, lots of fruit, loaves of bread, scrolls, cake, crossaints, biscuits, cheese platter, scones, jam, cream, quiche, salad, chocolates, and all sorts of other things. i feel so welcome here (and so full).

on a completely different note, i don't think i've ever seen as many christian advertisements in my life as i have in south australia - and that includes late night tv watching uni days. it's very odd.

oooh! my quiche is ready!

taken at the booleroo view b and b. i'm not sure why i love this photo so much, but i really do. it's fast becoming one of my favourites - each time i see it i like it more.  

Telowie Gorge

29 July 2006 Around 2:15

My head's all fogge, like i'm holding it under the tea-stained water flowing at my feet - seeping in through the hair follicles to colour my thoughts.

i wanted solitude, and today i succeeded in finding a place where i really am completely alone. now, if only i could stay here for a couple of weeks, i might really be able to put my head back together.

i'm in telowie gorge, and have found a rock with a perfect bum-shaped impression in front of a bustling little stream. in front of me is a carpet of clover, leading to a long line of red boulders, and some beautiful pine-like trees that seem perfectly at home here, even though they are nothing at all like my preconceived ideas of what australian native, or at least australian bush trees are like.

a couple of people just walked past me, so i'm not entirely alone (i've just discovered) but i don't think they even noticed me sitting here.

i've been here quite a while now, thinking. i've always used journalling as a way of being honest with myself, but today i'm not sure what the honest truth is.

liz and i have been going through an amazing emotional journey this last 7 months, and it's interesting to see how differently we react to certain things.

when we go through difficult times, my way of dealing with that tends ot be to go into overdrive, brainstorm every possibility until i find a solution, and then chill out. i find it difficult to chill until i know i've made headway into dealing with it, so i realise i sometimes have a tendency to jump at the first option that presents itself - although, i must admit, this usually works pretty well for me, because it ends up being the right thing at the time.

lis has a very different approach - the hands over the ears "blah blah blah i can't hear you" ostrich head in the sand approach. she doesn't tend to deal with things until she absolutely has to then freaks out. then i freak out too.

at the beginning that was all ok - i would organise everything, and liz would happily go along with it all. well, that's not entirely true, we'd discuss everything we wanted to do, but the big decision were often based on my friends we've stayed with, and my work. this is basically because i plan ahead, and liz likes to go with the flow.

as a result of all this, i can understand why sometimes liz feels like she's just tagging along on my trip, and i feel like i'm always pushing her to get her shit together. most days we're equal in everything, some days we're like mother and daughter.

in order to counteract this fairly unhelpful pattern in both of us, and push us both out of our comfort zone, i've asked liz to organise the next part of our trip. that way, she can find work she really wants to be doing anywhere in australia, and i'll follow her.

i'm not sure what will actually end up happening, but i'm trying not to freak out while i sit back and wait for liz.

telowie gorge - if anyone is heading to south australia, do yourselves a favour, and go to telowie gorge. it's truly stunning. a very restful place 

apparently these yellow flowers are weeds, but they made an amazing carpet. they're actually about knee height, and the trees looked like they were wading through water. i love that it look so incongruous.  

another incredible scenery shot - this is a magnificent part of the world in many ways. sure we complain about it a lot, but the fact still stands that is't beautiful. i was driving to an appointment with a client and saw this view, and couldn't resist stopping for a quick pic... 

this part of the world is certainly worth visiting for the incredible scenery. i was actually working when i took this shot - one of the advantages to working in an area like this is that i get paid to drive around amazing countryside.  

Port Wakefield

22 July 2006 11:31am

A momentous occasion, and worthy of public notice.

for the first time ever in the recorded history of everything, liv finished a coffee before liz.

this may be indicative that the end of the world is nigh.

it may also mean that it was bloody good coffee, and liv was cold.

not sure which, although we have spotted a number of carrion birds (seagulls) circling overhead, ready for the first picking of the dead (or chips from the fish and chip shop next door).

make of this what you will.

a moody day

16 July 2007 8:19pm

This entry will not be published until i feel like the situation i'm in has somehow worked itself out.

up until a few moments ago, i felt like crying, and i believe if i'd started, the tears would hav disolved each of these words, which has a nice sort of poetic imagery to it, i must admit. what cheered me up was getting a phone call from an old friend from Brisbane who's now living in Adelaide.

She hates it here too.

we've been here a little over 48 hours, and already i want to quit and leave.

grandpa has been amazingly generous - putting us both up, driving us around, not letting us pay for anything at al, and in the disgustingly selfish frame of mind i'm in, all that does is make me feel like i'm 12.

i'm freaking out. i'm so scared, i don't know how i'm going to make it through the next 3 months.

grandpa does nothing but try to make us feel welcome, and all it does is make us feel like we're invading his space.

i feel like i've made such a big mistake coming here. we were talking about it today - liz and i - saying that if this was just a short stopover we'd think it was fantastic.

but it's not. we feel stuck - and we're already starting to lose our minds.

i've been coming up with all these crazy plans for how to get out of here.

12 weeks. only 12 weeks to go. only 12 weeks.

update - none of this is relevant any more at all. we've now been here 6 weeks and we're both doing really well. we've found lots of things to inspire us - for me, primarily the idea that i'm getting my health back after letting pretty much all my good habits go during the 4 months in melbourne. for liz, doing a lot more art is inspiring her in a lot of ways, i think.

anyway, point is, the only reason i've put this post on here, is to remind us of the terrible state we were in when we first arrived (we were a total mess, too many goodbyes all at once) and the amazing mental state we both have at the moment - we're both bright and positive, and excited about the future.

The drive to Port Pirie

just letting you know, yes, we realise these posts are out of order. you'll all just have to live with it.

14 July 2006 2:10pm (south australian time)

We've driven 3 hours so far today, and we have at least 3.5 to go before we get to port pirie.

it's funny comparing liz's driving to mine. i hate having people overtake me, because i like to be in front. well, unless they're complete dickheads with a death wish, and then they generally speed off into the distance anyway.

liz lets everyone pass. she doesn't like people sitting behind her as much as i don't like people in front. i don't like them ahead of me because i figure i can't trust them. she doesn't like them behind because she figures she can't trust them.

i've been teaching liz to use cruise control. on these straight flat roads it's good because it stops you speeding - and i find it dangerously easy to speed accidentally on roads like this, particularly when we've been playing the sort of music we've listened to today - the bird, rage against the machine, transport, radiohead, even some irish tunes recorded at port arlington, but all in all, music with great beats to keep us up and grooving.

we spent the last 2 nights in coonawarra, and had a lot of fun wine tasting. i was very good - only bought one bottle and one loaf of bread the whole time. we stayed in coonawarra country cabins (picker's hut). the original plan was to stay there one night and head to adelaide, but we didn't arrive till about 7pm, and it was so nice we decided to stay an extra day - i could easily have stayed weeks, the area was so gorgeous.

anyway, we got back to our cabin after our wine tasting yesterday to find a fruit and cheese platter and bottle of wine waiting for us. i love staying in b and bs - just wish we could afford to do it more often!

one day, liz and i are going to manage to do the great ocean road without it pouring rain. it is a magnificent place - although both of us remarked on the fact that we felt like something was missing this time. i've never driven so much in one day, but that part of the world made me feel so alive that it was easy - i didn't want to stop, it was so magnificent.

dad will be proud, we've seen lots of raptors.

i've forbidden liz from eating chocolate while we're travelling. whenever she does, she spends the next day farting in the car, and i have to beat her over the head and vomit in her lap. really, she brings it on herself.

we've reached the outskirts of adelaide. need to stop writing - steep and winding. mmm... vomitous.

an arty farty shot of a nasturtium, love that shade of blue, my fave! liz 

this is probably the clearest pic of the painting, i look like s@#$ tho, taken too early in the morning!! 

grandpa took us to the clare valley a couple of weeks ago, whilst there we visited this amazing building called martindale hall. it was built back in the day by a twenty three year old sheep farmer who inherited a shipload of money after his father drowned in the river of their property....bit of a sad story that. anyway, this house was owned by three different men and was given over to the state of south australia as a living heirloom. unfortunately we couldn't take photos inside but it was perfectly preserved and there was even music playing inside that had belonged to the last owner! just after i took this photo granda turned around and waved but i missed it! liz 

this is the view from mt remarkable, the tallest point in the southern flinders ranges. managed to haul my butt 4 kms up the mountain to take this photo and only completed a quarter of the track! needless to say my glutes were caning the next day, oh and the day after that AND the day after that! loved it tho, went by myself, saw 2 people in the two hours i was there.....just me and nature....bliss! liz 

this is me as an orange head about to go to work at cafe riva! 

livi and i with the certificate and my cheque for $250! 

my painting "an outsider's cut and paste guide to port pirie" hanging in the regional gallery in downtown port pirie, 12 th august 2006